Leadership
by SheabeePrime
Summary: Starscream has more reasons to want to take Megatron's place as leader of the Decepticons besides his own narcissism and his inability to do so goes beyond the fear of punishment. As a matter of fact, there is a lot to Starscream that many do not know.


Transformers Secret Solenoid 2016

Gift For: Starscream1

Prompt: TFP Starscream

Content to avoid: NSFW

I do not own Transformers

Patience was not a virtue Starscream had been blessed with upon his creation. The Seeker might have been graced with the strength of ambition and cunning, but the patience that usually follows in suit of such characteristics was, to put it gently, severely lacking. In spite of this, however, the most enjoyable time period in his existence, or at least since joining the Decepticons, had been the three stellar cycles he spent on the Nemesis while endlessly waiting on Megatron to find and return from his space travels with more soldiers. The constant ins and outs of orbiting around the primitive planet of Earth, making rounds to energon mines to drop off supplies or pick up cubes, may have begun to grind on his subordinates, but to Starscream the experience gave him a whole new sense of empowerment. In his absence Megatron left Starscream in charge. Not only was he the obvious choice, being second in command, but, although Megatron may never admit it, the Seeker ran a tight ship and could keep the Decepticons a well-oiled machine. Starscream held true to that reputation too. He oversaw all mining operations, received intel updates from any dispatched grounders about Autobot activity, and was personally involved in the creation of the Spacebridge, having been a scientist at one time. All the power of the Decepticons was his in that time frame, the only problem was that it came to an end.

The moment Megatron emerged through that Spacebridge Starscream had to give up everything that wasn't really his to start with, destroying the illusion of power and purpose that had been so generously handed over to him. It was almost some sick joke, to let him have a taste of leadership just to take it back as he settled into it. To be fair though, the Seeker had known it was coming, but for the longest time simply set aside that realization and the looming feeling that accompanied it. Starscream chose to ignore fate in favor of the reality he had created for himself and was reaping the consequences. Still, he celebrated with the crew, however slightly, even presenting the body of Cliffjumper, whom he had personally murdered, to his master, in hopes of possibly taking the strain off their previously challenged dynamic. It seems, though, that things with Megatron never change, as the warlord would still go out of his way to make sure things would remain as dysfunctional as ever. All his previous efforts and hard work forgotten, Starscream quickly returned to being the outlet for Megatron's frustrations, subject to suffer constant beatings, ridicule, and manipulation. When analyzed, it really is no wonder the Seeker became so narcissistic and cynical, how else was he supposed to stay in a healthy mindset, one in which he felt good about himself? The never-ending torture reinstated, Starscream's quest for control once again returned, and thus, the beginning of the end.

Even after his recovery from the space bridge incident, the disarray Megatron would cause, especially among the ranks of his own Decepticons, made Starscream question the warlord's sanity. At first he chalked it up to being alone in space for so long, then he revised his theory to put the blame on the extended exposure to dark energon, but after some time Starscream couldn't avoid reality any longer: Megatron was crazy. Maybe crazy isn't the right word; obsessed is more fitting. Contrary to popular belief, Megatron's obsession was not with power, control, murder, or anything else that such an obsession with might be beneficial for the leader of the Decepticons to have. No, their "master" might have the others fooled, but Starscream had been playing this game for too long and knew Megatron far better than that. Their leader's obsession was unhealthy, dangerous, and that was because it was with Optimus Prime. The former librarian archivist had been like a brother to Megatronous, as he was once known, and the gladiator confined in him. Optimus, or Orion Pax, had been the only bot to truly know the mech behind the armor that Megatronous wore. So, when Pax was pronounced Prime and the rage of betrayal overtook Megatronous' spark, he vowed to crush all that once was and recreate Cybertron in his image. At first this meant the Council's destruction. Then it meant the demolition of high caste Cybertronian societies. Now, the last thing on the warlord's list was Optimus Prime, the last of the Primes, the last who knew all the good that Megatron once stood for, and was. When the Autobots fled Cybertron, Megatron too abandoned the planet to follow, and thus led them to Earth.

Starscream found the whole thing to be ridiculous. The Decepticons had gotten so caught up in the war and chasing down the Autobots that they forgot their original purpose: to take control of Cybertron and make peace through Tyranny. When the Autobots left, the 'cons and their advanced science could have been put to use holding authority over and reviving the planet. Of course, there was the argument that leaving the Autobots alive, especially with Optimus Prime as their leader, would only allow for them to regroup and plan a counterattack. Really though, with all the times Megatron had the opportunity to destroy the Autobots, particularly Optimus, and gave it up because it "wasn't honorable" or "they could lead them to something useful" whatever that may be or because "Megatron had to kill Optimus himself with his bear servos" left Starscream unconvinced about if Megatron even wanted this war to end. The seeker could hardly believe he was the only one to see this, but he was, no doubt, the only one motivated enough, with enough power, and not enough fear to try and alter the situation enough to put the Decepticons back on the right track. Of course altering the situation meant taking power for himself, but that was only a minor detail caused by the fact that Megatron had gone beyond the point of being able to be reasoned with.

In addition to all this, Starscream also had some personal reasons to feel the need to usurp the warlord currently in power that went beyond having an inflated ego. The mysterious missile strike launched on his former home and kingdom, Vos, was just as much of a reason as any for Starscream to want to eliminate Megatron. When the tragedy happened, Starscream was told that the responsibility belonged to the Autobots and was not Megatron's doing. Whether this was true or not, the information given to him was enough to pacify the seeker and redirect his rage to a common enemy. As time went on, however, and the fog of grief began to fade, Starscream turned his suspicions from the Autobots to the Decepticons themselves, especially their leader. Of course, nothing could get him to truly abandon his place as a 'con, but he figured had there been better leadership, had he been in charge, the destruction of Vos and many like city-states would not have happened nor would his brothers be fated to be simply names in a book of the fallen as consequence of war. Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, and others under his command may not have always seen optic to optic, but they always had each other's back. The death of his original, his true, armada left the Seeker without anyone he considered trustworthy, let alone a friend. None of the other mechs would really consider him trustworthy either, but that was their problem. If they weren't all mindless followers of a lost gladiator maybe he would allow himself to be generous with his kindness towards them, however that was not looking to be something that would happen in the foreseeable future.

Despite all the pent up rage and logical reasons he had to justify taking down Megatron, Starscream sometimes struggled to decide if it was something he really wanted to do. He once followed the illusion of Megatron's words just as valiantly as any Vehicon would. He had believed in the Decepticon cause for what it was, beyond a chance for a power grab. He had even looked up to Megatron for his ability to take charge and bend things to his liking. For as weak as he proclaimed Optimus Prime to be for not killing Megatron in one the many times he had the ability to do so, Starscream was equally guilty of the same thing. He and the Prime were alike in that regard: they didn't want to let go of the past nor the Megatronous that lived there. In fact, even now there were times when the Seeker just wanted to please his master, get his approval, or even just some praise for his work, however he was only ever rewarded with pain. Starscream had made many mistakes, sure, and not killing Megatron was debatably one of them, but he was still worth something. Maybe he just wanted to hear the warlord say this at least once before the time came to take control. Maybe if he continuously tried his best at being Commander Starscream instead of Lord Starscream he would get the validation he was seeking. There was a voice that often told Starscream that even if he vanquished the finest gladiator of Kaon he would never be restored to his former glory as Cybertron's Air Commander. And if that was the case, what was the point?

All these thoughts made Starscream's path so unclear. Every option looked as viable as self-destructive and he often went back and forth between these lines. The Seeker knew that this made him slightly unstable in the optics of those who also took residence on the Nemesis, and he wasn't misguided enough to prevent his own personal acknowledgement of his, in the very least, unpredictability, but he liked to view this aspect of his personality as a strength to aid him rather than a fact of life that was to his disadvantage. For as frustrating as it was to himself, his very nature made both 'bots and 'cons weary of him. No one could ever pinpoint what his next move would be or who it would be against: The Autobots, a Vehicon, Megatron, or himself. Supposedly, from a psychological point of view, this made him a strategical genius. It was no lie that he was singularly, or primarily, responsible for designing most of the battle plans that led them to victory on Cybertron. His Earth track record might not have been that good, but in all fairness he didn't have the millions of years to familiarize himself with the planet and all that it did, or, more accurately, didn't have to offer like he had with Cybertron.

All that previous information was outdated though, too irrelevant to be taken into consideration. Earth was a new planet and it would be here that Starscream would eventually have to make the decision of who he wanted to be, to recreate himself into and then actually become. Did he want to be remembered as Megatron's loyal Decepticon second, the treacherous Decepticon leader who saved the cause, or die somewhere in between? His options were not plentiful, nor was the time in which he had to choose, but if there was one thing that was for certain, it was that, no matter the outcome of his situation, the Seeker would never give up. Starscream never stopped. He never let anything or one inconvenience him to the point of putting a halt to obtaining his ever changing desires. He always found what others would call a way out but was really more of a new perspective on things. He was smart and he was driven, so if achieving whatever legacy he concluded would be most fitting meant being patient, then so be it. Hell, maybe things would go his way for once and the Autobots would kill Megatron, automatically crowning Starscream the new Decepticon leader without him having to get his servos dirty, literally. Hopefully he wouldn't have to wait long, patience was not one of Starscream's many virtues, however, that did not mean it could not be learned.


End file.
